Meter prices in busy D.C. neighborhoods will rise

If all goes to plan, the program will expand from South Capitol Street to include the H Street corridor. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty)

WASHINGTON – The parking rate on meters across the city is about to rise. The District plans to expand a program that links the price of the parking to demand.

The program, called performance parking, will affect highly traveled neighborhoods, like the ones surrounding the Nationals ballpark, according to DDOT.

On an average day, meters around Nationals Park charge $1 every hour, but on game days, that price jumps to $8 an hour.

On Facebook, WTOP listeners chimed in on the fare increase.

“Some D.C. garages for 3-4 hour rate are cheaper,” says James H. Kim. “Why would I pay $8 an hour to park my car at the risk of getting scratched on the street? Unless there are meter fairies standing by my car 24/7 to take one for the team, D.C. government needs to do some due diligence.”

The program, run through the Department of Transportation, is designed to discourage people from using on-street parking for long events that bog down the neighborhood and keep residents and small business customers from finding parking.

“As a D.C. resident this makes me happy,” user Brian Double says on Facebook. “We are becoming a walkable, bike friendly, and transit city that is trying to push the failed car system out.”

If all goes to plan, the program will expand from South Capitol Street to include the H Street corridor, which swells with the restaurant- and bar crowd in the evening. Meters there will go from 75 cents to $2 an hour.

‎”$8 per hour is excessive especially on H St where mass transit is lacking,” says Anthony Garnett on Facebook.

On top of the higher fare per hour, the city will impose new time limits in premium demand zones, according to DDOT.